Jimmy Durante

Jimmy Durante (10 February 1893-29 January 1980) was an American singer, musician, comedian, and actor who was one of America's most popular personalities from the 1920s through to the 1970s, owing to his distinctive voice, New York accent, prominent nose, and his comedy. He was also an active member of the Democratic Party, supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Biography
Jamaes Francis Durante was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City on 10 February 1893, the son of two immigrants from Salerno, Italy. He was once an altar boy at Saint Malachy's Roman Catholic Church, and he dropped out of school in seventh grade to become a ragtime pianist. He joined the Original New Orleans Jazz Band, becoming its only member not from New Orleans, and he became renowned for his showmanship. By the mid-1920s, he had become a vaudeville star, and he became an active member of the Democratic Party during the Great Depression. In 1933, he wrote the song Give a Guy a Job to support Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, and he would appear several times on Eddie Cantor's show, briefly serving as its star in 1934. During World War II, Durante and Frank Sinatra performed on the Armed Forces Radio Network, and their show Command Performance became very popular among radio show collectors. In 1950, he made his television debut, appearing on Tallulah Bankhead's show several times. He also became active with charities during the 1950s, including the Fraternal Order of Eagles (which raised money for handicapped and abused children), and he showed his love for children with his charities and by narrating the 1969 animated Christmas special Frosty the Snowman. After a stroke in 1972, he retired from performing, and he died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California in 1980 at the age of 86.